12-27-09

I didn’t wake up as early today so I wound up in the shower at five am and it was already busy. I have to use these crappy prison style flip flops, they are too small and I am always scared my feet will slip off into that cesspool shower floor. Whenever I go in the main/only real bathroom I see guys brushing their teeth with that nasty chemical treated water. Even though there is a sign right by every mirror saying not to drink the water.

I had breakfast with the guys at about 5:45, there are eight of us mechanics who are headed to Kandahar together and who came in together. I never realized how much having friends would help me get through this, but it is.

We caught the 7:30 to the other side again. When we got there the teacher had gotten Scotty a birthday card and a little cake thing. His name is actually Gary but we are all kind of latching onto nick names here. It’s funny but you kind of get reinvented here, and the nick name seems more appropriate. Like the real world is only something that we all remember together, but not much of it makes it to this place. We live in the memory of what it’s like somewhere else. This is the world’s armpit, and I don’t know what that makes me.

So we had coffee and cake while we reviewed for the test, which I then got 100%. Actually one guy missed 2 out of 25, but that was the lowest score.

Then the movies again until 3pm. The movies are kind of harsh really, because for a little while you forget where you are and get caught up in something else and then when you go outside for a break that cold air hits your face you can’t ignore where you are and how long you will be here. The cold is really starting to make me resent this place, as if the cold is a physical manifestation of the loneliness and isolation I feel here.

After class we went down to Military Air so I could see if my bag had come in and so the other guys could remanifest. Which is what you do when you take a military flight you go get your name on a list and then you have 10 days to try and take the flight. Taking the flight means you go down and wait and if there are no military guys show up in front of you then you get to take the flight.

When we got back I went to HR and she said she got an email saying my bag would be here on Wednesday the 30th. So she said I need to wait here for my bag and everybody else is going to leave tomorrow for Kandahar. So right now everyone else is packing up to go except me.